Tuesday, December 8, 2009

We've been hearing for a while now that ManGlaze was up to something... Creating new products... hearing the whispers and rumors. The time is finally here to see some of the new stuff they've been working on, and I was fortunate enough to receive a few samples to review. So, here are ManGlaze's new creations!Hot Mess matte glitter topcoat, Matte-Astrophe matte topcoat, Matte is Murder. ManGlaze always has excellent artwork on their bottles- these feature work by Joe Simko and Jason atomic. You can click these for a closeup.

Hot Mess. Matte silver glitter. This is a really dense silver glitter that dries completely matte. You can use it as a topcoat to add glitter and mattify, or wear it alone as I'm doing here. Matte glitter is one of my favorite looks in the universe, there's just something about it... It looks like frozen metal platelets or something. Like stones under a layer of ice?

Matte Is Murder. Matte black shimmer. This replaces the original Matte Black / The Death Tar. The Death Tar is now discontinued. Matte Is Murder is really pretty similar, but it seems a touch blacker in matte form, a more visible rainbow shimmer and a slightly more matte finish than the original. It's also vegan.

And... the obligatory topcoat shots!

Hot Mess with topcoat. As you can see, this is an extremely sparkly glitter. Like a little disco ball on each nail. And, as an added bonus, it's very very smooth. Glitters usually leave a bit of grittiness on the nail, and this really doesn't, even without topcoat. Something about the matte finish makes all the glitter particles lie completely flat on the nail.

Matte is Murder with topcoat and Hot Mess matte accent. Hot Mess looks really cool over matte black... it's so dense that you can only see a bit of the black through the silver, which kinda gives it an overall grey look. And the Matte Is Murder with topcoat? Gorgeous. It completely transforms with shiny topcoat... From a badass matte asphalt black to a deep glossy black filled with tons of rainbow sparkles. There is a lot of holographic/rainbow shimmer in here. Click the picture to see it up close. It reminds me of Bloom Mena once there's topcoat on it.

I didn't get a chance to use Matte-Astrophe in these pictures because... well.. the polishes are matte to begin with. But, I did use it for a manicure later that day, so I got a chance to test drive the formula.

Matte-Astrophe is a matte topcoat that can be used either to restore the matte finish on your ManGlaze or other matte finish polishes, or to mattify a glossy color. I used it on top of Sally Hansen Burnt Sienna and it was amazing. Burnt Sienna is kind of a golden-olive-brassy type shade, so when the Matte-Astrophe was applied it looked like antique metal, old brass or even a frosted glass Christmas ornament. (I'll get pictures soon, as well as include this in my Matte Topcoat review.) The one tricky part about Matte-Astrophe is that is *must* be used on dry polish. If the polish is wet -at all, even just a little!- it will cause a crackle effect. This can be used to your advantage, actually... It looks pretty cool when done intentionally. My topcoat crackled on my ring fingers, somehow my polish wasn't quite as dry as I thought it was. The effect it gives is of little rivers of glossy color breaking through a matte surface- kind of how lava looks when the molten red rock shows through the cracked black top. I enjoy it and I plan to experiment a lot more with it.

The formula on all of these is on par with the rest of the ManGlaze line. Perfect. Smooth, opaque, dries extremely fast. I did two coats of each of these colors, you might be able to get away with one if you are more careful in your application. These don't dry while you're applying them so they're extremely forgiving with sloppy application. I didn't have a single problem- the polish went where it was supposed to and brushes fit my nails perfectly. An interesting feature of these particular bottles is that they click closed. When you've closed the bottle tightly enough, you'll hear and feel a little click. I've never experienced that before on a polish bottle, so I thought it was worth mentioning! EDIT: I've just received word from ManGlaze that the clicking isn't an intentional feature- mine might be a fluke! So if yours don't click, don't try to force it :)

The price has gone up quite a bit for the topcoats- Matte-Astrophe and Hot Mess are $13.13. Ha! Love it. (Not the price increase, cause that's a bummer, but the fact that they're $13.13) Matte Is Murder is still $6.66.

Also worth noting: These are a limited run and there are fewer than 1500 bottles available of each. They are numbered as well, which I think is pretty cool. Gives a really personal touch to the product.

Overall, I love these as much as I've loved any ManGlaze product. Like I always mention in my ManGlaze reviews, I really appreciate their sense of humor, their awesome artwork and the fact that they're totally my style. The formula is good, the finish is good, the brushes and bottles are good, I have no complaints.

As far as I'm aware, ManGlaze can only be purchased online at ManGlaze.com and at a few select boutiques. (And while you're on Manglaze.com, check out the picture of Lajon Witherspoon wearing ManGlaze polish. Now that's a celebrity endorsement I can appreciate!)

15 comments:

these are impressive polishes. i wasn't too drawn to the bottles, as i find the artwork to be totally cheesed out and reminiscent of Ed Hardy (what a joke). I guess the kind of guy that would actually wear nail polish would be attracted to this artwork so.. good job manglaze, i guess haha. that aside, i would totally wear these colors!!

I've had Matte Is Murder for a while, it's one of my fave polish to apply and wear.

Concerning the difference between The Death Tar and Matte is Murder, I asked and here's what they reponded: "the difference between "The Death Tar" and "#MatteIsMurder" is very slight. "The Death Tar" dried matte but picked up a very subtle sheen. It bugged me in certain lights. "#MatteIsMurder" appears a little darker because that sheen has been reduced"

Hey, I just got the same set. Right now I'm wearing Hot Mess on top of Barry M Marshmallow Pink and like that's not enough, I put some black and white 3D flower stickers on top. I call it my Barbie manicure.

These are so cool, right down to the packaging...And I really like the idea of bottles clicking shut. I'm OCD about keeping my NP bottles closed, so a 'click' will let me know that it's shut tight! =pouts that yet another brand doesn't ship to the UK=

Ah, they're all lovely! I see I'm not the only one having trouble with Matte-Astrophe, and I can't wait for more reviews to see what brands work with it ;_; I've tried it with 4 or 5 different brands, I always wait more than 1 day for the polish to dry properly and then apply Matte-Astrophe but the crackling effect is always there. Actually it's pretty cool, but I'd like to see how would a "velvet" layer be on my nails.